Election Reform: An Analysis of Proposals and the
Commission’s Recommendations for Improving America’s Election System

Summary

The Office for Civil Rights Evaluation reviewed national
election reform initiatives, as well as studies and proposals of both public and
private entities, to facilitate the Commission’s ongoing monitoring of voting
rights enforcement and election reform. This review includes four parts:

an overview of enforcement of existing laws that govern the
voting process;

an analysis of proposed and recently enacted legislation;

an examination of proposals made by national organizations
that have studied the election process; and

election reform recommendations emerging from the foregoing
as well as the Commission’s review since the November 2000 election.

The Commission’s 18 recommendations, which are presented
in greater detail in chapter IV, are summarized here:

1. Minimum, mandatory, and voluntary national standards
must be set.

Congress should
pass legislation authorizing the establishment of minimum standards that all
states must follow for equipment, error rates, use of absentee ballots, sample
ballots, list maintenance (minimum periods for list review and unacceptable
error rates), identity verification, ballot counting and tabulation (including
what constitutes a valid vote), recounting, voter education efforts, felon
disenfranchisement, and responsibilities of states versus counties during an
election.

Mandatory standards
must be established that include: use of provisional ballots, incorporation of
ballot kick-back features in voting equipment, collection and reporting of
statistics immediately following an election, provision of language assistance,
and assurance of physical accessibility for both polling places and voting
materials. Other administrative procedures and practices of states not
referenced here should be subject to voluntary compliance.

2. Sufficient funding must be provided for election reform.

Congress should pass election reform legislation that
allocates sufficient appropriations to address the array of needs of the states.

3.
One central, high-ranking official must have sole responsibility and
accountability for elections.

To ensure accountability, it is necessary that each state
establish one central, high-ranking official responsible for overseeing the
entire election process and conforming to established national standards. The
Commission supports the model wherein the chief election official of the state
has sole responsibility for the management of elections, as is currently the
case with most states. States set up under this model should have a designated
staff or office within the office of the chief election official (for many, the
secretary of state) that provides information, guidance, and training to local
officials. That chief election official’s office should also manage all local
election-related data such as registration files and election statistics. The
chief election official should ultimately be accountable for any failures in the
election system. Chief election officials in each state should be subject to the
same ethical standards as the sitting judiciary in the state’s highest court.
In addition, standards for the behavior of chief election officials could be
established as a condition for receipt of federal grant monies.

4. Laws protecting voting rights must be strictly enforced.

The federal government’s monitoring function before and
on Election Day must be expanded. Specifically, Congress should provide
sufficient funding to enable the Department of Justice to engage in activities
to prevent discrimination before it occurs. Funds should also enable the Justice
Department to purchase materials necessary to monitor registration and purge
procedures; provide attorneys who would assist voters during the election and
thereafter with pursuing allegations of discrimination or irregularities and
with activating the complaint/appeals process; and assist local precincts with
monitoring on short notice. The federal government should also establish
standard operating procedures and requirements for monitoring.

5. Procedures for processing complaints must be improved.

Complaint filing and resolution should take place outside
the authority of the chief election official’s office, or the offices of other
state or local election officials, so individuals are not forced to file a
grievance with the same entity that committed the alleged violation. The
Commission thus recommends that the U.S. attorney’s office in each state be
designated as the entity responsible for complaint resolution. Procedures for
responding to complaints must be clearly defined to include strategies for
investigation, timelines, and guidelines for remedies. Oversight of state
procedures to ensure voting fairness should rest with the Department of
Justice’s Civil Rights Division, which should perform random administrative
audits of precincts’ voting procedures. In addition, instructions for filing a
grievance must be readily available and highly publicized so that voters are
aware of their rights and options.

6. Election data must be uniformly tracked and reported.

To facilitate both individual rights of action and
federally initiated legal challenges, it is necessary that appropriate election
data be collected uniformly across precincts in every state. To identify
disparities in precinct election systems, states should collect data on such
precinct characteristics as the equipment and types of ballots used; the
availability of communications systems; number of poll workers; poll worker
training programs; polling place hours; ballot availability in non-English
languages and Braille; accessibility features used to assist voters with
disabilities and non-English speakers; and criteria used for purging names from
registration lists. These data should be made available for public use
immediately following an election. It is also important that states collect and
report data on voter turnout and spoiled ballots (overvotes and undervotes) by
county.

As the officer responsible for election administration,
every chief election official should collect election data and make the data
readily available to constituents. Standards for the information to be collected
should be established at the federal level, through the Federal Election
Commission (FEC), so that state-by-state comparisons and analyses can be
performed.

7. Election checklists must be established.

Because of the many
tasks required to ensure the smooth operation of elections, state election
officials should work with the federal government to develop minimum
requirements for a standard checklist that would be tailored by states to
accommodate local needs, for every function that should be completed before,
during, and after an election. The list would include all tasks that must be
performed by state and local election officials, including supervisors of
elections and precinct workers. The list must also serve as an accountability
tool, requiring specific designation of duties to individuals, and signatures
that certify the accomplishment of each task. Attaching timelines to actions
would also ensure that appropriate steps are taken far enough in advance to
correct problems.

8. Provisional ballots must be provided to voters on
Election Day.

Every state should be required to provide provisional
ballots to all voters who wish to contest their elimination from voter
registration lists or who have recently moved to a new jurisdiction.
Additionally, voters should be allowed to cast a provisional ballot at any
polling place irrespective of the precinct in which the voter resides. Such
ballots should be sent to the home jurisdiction for tallying. Verification of
the eligibility of provisional ballot voters should be performed immediately
after an election (within three days, for example) so that either the vote can
be counted or the voter can be given the opportunity to appeal the decision not
to count his or her ballot.

9. A 21-day certification period must be established for
election results.

Congress should establish a mandatory waiting period after
elections before certification of the results to include the counting of
provisional, absentee, and overseas ballots and to allow for appropriate
resolution of any voting discrepancies or disputes (such as those that surfaced
with the butterfly ballot in the 2000 Florida election). The Commission
recommends that states allow 21 days after an election to perform the necessary
administrative and counting duties associated with elections, as well as any
necessary recounts. State election officials should be prohibited from
“calling” an election until such a time when all votes have been
counted, discrepancies resolved, and voter complaints addressed. States should
develop clear guidelines and/or modify existing regulations for the conduct of
election certification, giving consideration to all possible scenarios.

10. Voter registration deadlines must be set later.

States must develop improved registration technologies that
would enable real-time statewide registration of voters. Implementation of such
a data system would eliminate the need for early registration deadlines and at
the same time reduce susceptibility to data entry errors. Deadlines could be set
as late as a week before an election and, in less populated states, even later.

11. Uniform nationwide voting hours must be established.

Election Day should be made a national holiday, perhaps
Veterans Day, to enable more states to solve logistical problems related to
hiring poll workers and holding elections in accessible buildings. The
Commission supports the creation of uniform polling hours (for example, 8 a.m.
to 8 p.m. local time) within states to avoid potential voter confusion, and to
simplify the task of election administration.

12. Minimum national standards must be set for voting
equipment.

Congress should establish statutory authority for the FEC
to develop national voting system standards and operational guidelines in
conjunction with state election officials. The standards should be broad enough
to accommodate the different needs of states. However, at the very least,
federal guidelines should dictate that voting systems meet minimum standards.
For example, while not requiring states to purchase specific voting machines
from specific vendors, standard requirements for how the equipment processes a
vote should be specified at the federal level. The standards should also include
lists of acceptable technologies that improve accessibility for language
minorities and people with disabilities.

13. Guidelines for voter identification requirements must
be set.

Federal guidelines should be developed for the verification
of voter identification. States would thus be able to ensure that poll workers
follow procedures precisely and uniformly. Election officials and poll monitors
must ensure that some voters, minorities and new citizens in particular, are not
required to show additional identification. Further, in the event that an
individual cannot present the necessary identification, he or she should be
allowed to vote using a provisional ballot until identification and eligibility
can be verified.

14. Federal language assistance standards must be set and
compliance must be monitored.

The federal government must set minimum requirements for
the means used to accommodate the language needs of voters. The federal
government must establish proficiency standards for bilingual poll workers and
translation services used at both registration and polling sites. In addition,
quality assurance procedures must be put in place in states with large language
minority populations to ensure that language-appropriate ballots, voting
instructions, technical assistance materials, and complaint forms are readily
available and free from translation errors or confusing language.

In addition to actually implementing language
accommodations, states should be required to submit regular reports to the
Justice Department on the provisions implemented, utilization rates of bilingual
materials, and outcomes of their efforts, such as whether more language minority
voters participated in the election or whether bilingual voter education
services were effective.

15. Uniform standards for accessibility must be set and
compliance must be monitored.

The federal government must develop uniform standards for
disability access to improve enforcement of the existing laws. State election
officials must be given the responsibility for ensuring that all polling places
are accessible to voters with disabilities prior to the 2002 election. The
federal government should allocate funds to states specifically to improve
accessibility. Funding should be allocated for Braille ballots, TDD devices,
wheelchair accessible voting booths, and to run pilot programs that use Internet
voting programmed for use by disabled voters. States should also be required to
work with the FEC to adopt what are currently voluntary standards for
accessibility.

The federal government should also track the success of
states in carrying out their mandated responsibilities. States should be
required to report to the federal government, either through the FEC or a
legislatively established panel, the provisions implemented and outcomes of
their efforts.

16. Voting rights of former convicted felons must be
restored.

Felons should have their voting rights restored. All states
should follow the lead of the states with existing legislation to reinstate
voting privileges to felons upon completion of their sentences and parole.
Individuals on probation should also have the right to vote.

17. Requirements for public education must be established.

Congress should give the FEC the authority to develop, with
input from the states, minimum standards for acceptable forms of voter education
material, as well as the frequency with which such material should be
disseminated to voters. The federal government should also establish minimum
requirements for the production and distribution of material that informs voters
of where and how to file complaints of voting rights violations and options that
exist for the voter when his or her complaint is ignored.

Information on where one can find copies of voting laws in
full should be included in material developed locally. Outreach at the local
level should also include the circulation of sample ballots before an election
and technology demonstrations at public forums. This latter recommendation would
serve the dual purpose of enabling voters to familiarize themselves with the
technology used in their jurisdiction, and allowing election officials to detect
errors or common usage problems in advance.

18. Reform measures must assist new Americans in obtaining
the right to vote.

Voter registration cards should be provided to individuals
being sworn in as citizens to help new Americans become eligible to vote. The
federal government, through immigration offices, should also provide assistance
to individuals in filling out voter registration material. At a minimum, the
Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) should provide information on
voting in the citizenship application packet. Additionally, INS, recognizing the
importance of voting to the democratic process, should streamline and expedite
naturalization so that new citizens may vote sooner.